What are These Agents?
Agents are software-based assistants that can perform tasks either on a local computer or out on a network, such as the Internet. The agents that I am particularly interested in will perform various tasks on the network and aid in knowledge management. These agents will venture forth on the Internet or private networks and acquire knowledge by communicating with other agents, accessing databases and/or scanning existing documents.

The best feature of the intelligent agents is the ability to learn. Therefore, if they find a source of particularly good information, they will remember to check that source in future searches. Likewise, if there is a source that delivers consistently bad information, they will stop requesting input from that source.

In the future, these agents will be able to do our shopping and/or monitor our online auctions. Imagine, if you need to purchase new computers for your firm, you will be able to enter your specifications and maximum price. The agent will go out on the network and do all of the comparison shopping and negotiating. These tasks will be able to take place whether or not your machine is logged on to the network.

How to Try it Out
By now you may be saying, "This is wonderful in theory, but when will I be able to actually use this technology?" Currently, there is an application from Tryllian Software (www.tryllian.com) called Gossip, that enables users to begin exploring this exciting, new technology. The great feature about this product is that it is free to download. Gossip is an information or knowledge management agent. However, it does not yet contain the e-commerce features that were previously talked about.

Gossip is composed of four components: the playground, your agents, your agents' backpacks and the marketplace or meeting point.

The playground is nothing more than the program or software container where the agents reside when they are on your local computer and waiting to be sent out on the network. The agents are the pieces of code that travel the network doing their assigned missions. Gossip comes with five.

The backpacks, formerly known as wallets, are information containers that tell the agents what to look for, what related information you have to share with other agents and how to store the new information they find on that subject.

The meeting point, or marketplace, is an area on the network where these agents congregate and exchange information. A meeting point can exist behind your local firewall for internal use only or on the public Internet. If using it over the Internet, Tryllian has established meeting points for these agents, so you do not have to worry about building your own infrastructure.

Security Concerns
Many people ask, "What is to keep somebody from hijacking my agent or returning a different agent with a hidden virus?" Gossip has incorporated three types of security in the application. The first type is Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). SSL is the same encryption technology that is used when sending sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, over the web. SSL encrypts your agent as it travels over the network to the meeting point.

The second type of security is the digital signing of the actual agent code. This code requires your agent, and the meeting points, to automatically reject any agent that does not have Tryllian's digital signature. Also, if someone attempts to alter one of your agents, it will be recognized and automatically rejected.

The final type of security is the digital signing of your data. This signature is stored on your local hard drive and prevents your agent from getting lost or being hijacked by anyone else.

Tryllian is planning on adding e-commerce features to Gossip in the near future. These options will enable users to send agents out with payment information to go shopping.

The key to this technology living up to its potential is the adoption by many people. More agents out on the network equals more and better sources of contacts and information that can be exchanged. So I urge you to download a copy and try it out. Where else are you going to get a personal assistant that will work 24 hours a day for free?